Little Green Bee-Eater

The little green bee-eater bird is found in parts of Africa and Asia. This one was photographed in Botswana, in eastern Africa.

It is primarily an insect eater and is about 9 inches long. Bee-eaters catch insects, bees, wasps and ants on the fly. Males and females have the same coloring.

A Handful of Books

While in Paris recently, I wandered through a used book sale in the Latin Quarter of the city. Something about this man holding a handful of paperback books caught my eye. I enjoyed seeing so many book lovers browsing row after row of books of all sizes and subjects.

The Latin Quarter was so named because the university students who lived there during the Middle Ages spoke Latin. It is on the Left Bank of the river Seine, near the Sorbonne university. The area is home to several institutions of higher learning and book stores, as well as the usual outdoor cafes, markets, etc. It still retains much of its old bohemian nature.

This image spoke to me as a lifelong avid reader. As a young child, I much preferred to sit and read rather than going outside to play with friends. Even today, I often can be found reading one of the 30 or so books stored on my Kindle e-reader.

Clothes Make the Man

This photograph was taken in May 2015 in Jerusalem during a trip to Israel and Jordan. I like the contrast presented by the men in Orthodox Jewish clothing and hats with the man in more contemporary, secular clothing.

Jewish men who are more stringently Orthodox often wear black suits, and many Hasidic men wear suits reminiscent of the style Polish nobility wore in the 18th century, when Hasidic Judaism began. Notice that the man on the far right is wearing a long black coat, and the man in the middle is wearing a tzitzit, a four-pointed garment with fringe, under his shirt. Both men are wearing the traditional black hat, and both have long beards.

Fun on the Beach

People and dogs enjoy a beautiful evening on the beach known as 'the whale's tail' in Costa Rica. When seen from the air, the water forms what looks like the tail of a whale.